Funny that the Mariners score some runs in what turns out to be a pitchers duel, as Doug Fister matched fireballer Justin Verlander step for step until Verlander faltered in the 8th. Also go figure that in two of his lesser starts stat-wise, Fister puts up his best two performances of the season, as his defense lets him down a bit but he pitches better than he has all season, with very few mistakes. Believe it or not, he's getting better even as his line scores fall back to Earth.

Milton Bradley needed a good game at the plate badly to get back on track after his return from his self-imposed exile. Two big Milton Bradley hits keyed the Mariners fortunes at the plate today, one putting the M's on the board with a two run blast and the other putting the Mariners ahead for good with an RBI single. Good thing he and Franklin Gutierrez produced at the plate, because as usual the rest of the Mariners weren't (Chone Figgins' double offset several unproductive plate appearances for him)... though to be fair Justin Verlander is a fairly tough hurler.

The Mariners best not get too confident about today's win, as it was sparked mainly by two players, by Detroit running out their B team (Miggy Cabrera is out for the series due to family issues and several other spots are being manned by backups and youngsters) and by Doug Fister pitching very well. Their infield defense did not have a good game and will need to look better tomorrow with Jason Vargas on the hill and beyond. Ditto for their offense, as the two big days masked the fact that the rest of the lineup didn't do much.